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Zhang YS, Meiners SJ, Meng Y, Yao Q, Guo K, Guo WY, Li SP. Temporal dynamics of Grime's CSR strategies in plant communities during 60 years of succession. Ecol Lett 2024; 27:e14446. [PMID: 38814284 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Grime's competitive, stress-tolerant, ruderal (CSR) theory predicts a shift in plant communities from ruderal to stress-tolerant strategies during secondary succession. However, this fundamental tenet lacks empirical validation using long-term continuous successional data. Utilizing a 60-year longitudinal data of old-field succession, we investigated the community-level dynamics of plant strategies over time. Our findings reveal that while plant communities generally transitioned from ruderal to stress-tolerant strategies during succession, initial abandonment conditions crucially shaped early successional strategies, leading to varied strategy trajectories across different fields. Furthermore, we found a notable divergence in the CSR strategies of alien and native species over succession. Initially, alien and native species exhibited similar ruderal strategies, but in later stages, alien species exhibited higher ruderal and lower stress tolerance compared to native species. Overall, our findings underscore the applicability of Grime's predictions regarding temporal shifts in CSR strategies depending on both initial community conditions and species origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan-Song Zhang
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Zhejiang Zhoushan Island Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Scott J Meiners
- Department of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois, USA
| | - Yani Meng
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Zhejiang Zhoushan Island Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Qi Yao
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Zhejiang Zhoushan Island Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Kun Guo
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Zhejiang Zhoushan Island Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wen-Yong Guo
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Zhejiang Zhoushan Island Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Shao-Peng Li
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Zhejiang Zhoushan Island Ecosystem Observation and Research Station, Institute of Eco-Chongming, School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
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2
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Shen T, Song L, Corlett RT, Guisan A, Wang J, Ma WZ, Mouton L, Vanderpoorten A, Collart F. Disentangling the roles of chance, abiotic factors and biotic interactions among epiphytic bryophyte communities in a tropical rainforest (Yunnan, China). PLANT BIOLOGY (STUTTGART, GERMANY) 2023; 25:880-891. [PMID: 37655516 DOI: 10.1111/plb.13570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Epiphytes offer an appealing framework to disentangle the contributions of chance, biotic and abiotic drivers of species distributions. In the context of the stress-gradient theory, we test the hypotheses that (i) deterministic (i.e., non-random) factors play an increasing role in communities from young to old trees, (ii) negative biotic interactions increase on older trees and towards the tree base, and (iii) positive interactions show the reverse pattern. Bryophyte species distributions and abiotic conditions were recorded on a 1.1 ha tropical rainforest canopy crane site. We analysed co-occurrence patterns in a niche modelling framework to disentangle the roles of chance, abiotic factors and putative biotic interactions among species pairs. 76% of species pairs resulted from chance. Abiotic factors explained 78% of non-randomly associated species pairs, and co-occurrences prevailed over non-coincidences in the remaining species pairs. Positive and negative interactions mostly involved species pairs from the same versus different communities (mosses versus liverworts) and life forms, respectively. There was an increase in randomly associated pairs from large to small trees. No increase in negative interactions from young to old trees or from the canopy to the base was observed. Our results suggest that epiphytic bryophyte community composition is primarily driven by environmental filtering, whose importance increases with niche complexity and diversity. Biotic interactions play a secondary role, with a very marginal contribution of competitive exclusion. Biotic interactions vary among communities (mosses versus liverworts) and life forms, facilitation prevailing among species from the same community and life form, and competition among species from different communities and life forms.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Shen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Menglun, China
- Institute of Botany, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
- Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Menglun, China
- Department of Ecology and Evolution (DEE), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Department of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Wild Plant Resources, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - L Song
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Forest Ecology, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Menglun, China
| | - R T Corlett
- Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, Menglun, China
| | - A Guisan
- Department of Ecology and Evolution (DEE), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - J Wang
- Bryology Laboratory, School of Life Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - W-Z Ma
- Key Laboratory for Plant Diversity and Biogeography of East Asia, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - L Mouton
- Institute of Botany, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | | | - F Collart
- Department of Ecology and Evolution (DEE), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Li J, Meng F, Jiang M, Zhang H, Chu G, Tao R. Assembly and co-occurrence patterns of rhizosphere bacterial communities are closely linked to soil fertility during continuous cropping of cut chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat). J Appl Microbiol 2023; 134:lxad175. [PMID: 37537151 DOI: 10.1093/jambio/lxad175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023]
Abstract
AIMS Continuous cropping is known to have profound effects on the soil microbial community in different planting systems. However, we lack an understanding of how different years of continuous cropping affects rhizosphere soil bacterial community co-occurrence pattern and assembly processes in the cut chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat.) field. METHODS AND RESULTS We collected the soils from cut chrysanthemum rhizospheres with planting for 1 year (PY1) and continuous cropping for 6 years (CY6) and 12 years (CY12). Real-time quantitative PCR and flow cytometry (FCM) techniques were used to test the 16S rRNA gene copy number and bacterial cell count, respectively. The bacterial community structure was analysed by using high-throughput sequencing technology. The CY12 had a significantly decreased soil fertility index and rhizosphere bacterial living cell counts and gene copy numbers compared to CY6 and PY1 (P < 0.05). The rhizosphere bacterial community dissimilarity increased as the continuous cropping years increased. Three main ecological clusters (modules #1, #2, and #3) were observed in the bacterial co-occurrence network across all samples, and only the relative abundance of module #1 (enriched in the CY12) was significantly correlated with soil fertility (P < 0.05). Moreover, the rhizosphere bacterial community assembly was primarily governed by the deterministic process under 12 years of continuous cropping. CONCLUSIONS Soil fertility decline correlates with ecological network modularization and the deterministic assembly process of the rhizosphere bacterial community of cut chrysanthemum during continuous cropping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Li
- School of Life Science, Shaoxing University, Zhejiang 312000, P. R. China
| | - Feng Meng
- Shaoxing Service Center for Environmental Protection Science and Technology, Zhejiang 312000, P. R. China
| | - Maibo Jiang
- Ningbo City College of Vocational Technology, Ningbo, Zhejiang 315100, P. R. China
| | - Hanjie Zhang
- School of Life Science, Shaoxing University, Zhejiang 312000, P. R. China
| | - Guixin Chu
- School of Life Science, Shaoxing University, Zhejiang 312000, P. R. China
| | - Rui Tao
- School of Life Science, Shaoxing University, Zhejiang 312000, P. R. China
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Chai Y, Qiu S, Wang K, Xu J, Guo Y, Wang M, Yue M, Wang M, Zhu J. Partitioning and integrating of plant traits and phylogeny in assessing diversity along secondary forest succession in Loess Plateau of China. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10055. [PMID: 37181202 PMCID: PMC10170657 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Revised: 04/10/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Assessing plant diversity during community succession based on plant trait and phylogenetic features within a community (alpha scale) and among communities (beta scale) could improve our understanding of community succession mechanism. However, whether changes of community functional diversity at alpha and beta scale are structured by different traits and whether integrating plant traits and phylogeny can enhance the ability in detecting diversity pattern have not been studied in detail. Thirty plots representing different successional stages were established on the Loess Plateau of China and 15 functional traits were measured for all coexisting species. We first analyzed the functional alpha and beta diversity along succession by decomposing species trait into alpha and beta components and then integrated key traits with phylogenetic information to explore their roles in shaping species turnover during community succession. We found that functional alpha diversity increased along successional stages and was structured by morphological traits, while beta diversity decreased during succession and was more structured by stoichiometry traits. Phylogenetic alpha diversity showed congruent pattern with functional alpha diversity because of phylogenetic conservation of trait alpha components (variation within community), while beta diversity showed incongruent pattern due to phylogenetic randomness of trait beta components (variation among communities). Furthermore, only integrating relatively conserved traits (plant height and seed mass) and phylogenetic information can raise the detecting ability in assessing diversity change. Overall, our results reveal the increasing niche differentiation within community and functional convergence among communities with succession process, indicating the importance of matching traits with scale in studying community functional diversity and the asymmetry of traits and phylogeny in reflecting species ecological differences under long-term selection pressures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongfu Chai
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western ChinaNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
- School of Life SciencesNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Shen Qiu
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western ChinaNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
- School of Life SciencesNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Kaiyue Wang
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western ChinaNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
- School of Life SciencesNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Jinshi Xu
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western ChinaNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
- School of Life SciencesNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Yaoxin Guo
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western ChinaNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
- School of Life SciencesNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Mao Wang
- College of Grassland and Environment SciencesXinjiang Agricultural UniversityUrumchiChina
| | - Ming Yue
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western ChinaNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
- School of Life SciencesNorthwest UniversityXi'anChina
| | - Mingjie Wang
- Shuanglong State‐owned Ecological Experimental Forest Station of Qiaoshan State‐owned Forestry Administration of Yan'an CityYan'anChina
| | - Jiangang Zhu
- Shuanglong State‐owned Ecological Experimental Forest Station of Qiaoshan State‐owned Forestry Administration of Yan'an CityYan'anChina
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5
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Song Y, Xu M, Xu T, Zhao X, Yue Y, Yu H, Zhang M, Wang L. Changes in plant community assembly from patchy degradation of grasslands and grazing by different-sized herbivores. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 33:e2803. [PMID: 36560874 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2022] [Revised: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Grassland degradation caused by increases in livestock grazing threatens a variety of ecosystem services. Understanding changes in plant community assembly during the process of grassland degradation in the presence of grazing is important to help restore degraded grasslands worldwide but has received little attention thus far. The grassland degradation process is typified by heterogeneous degradation, that is, gradual formation of degraded patches (hereafter "patchy degradation"). Here, we experimentally examined the effects of herbivore grazing and patchy degradation on plant community assembly using nine pairs of non-degraded (intact) and patch-degraded (fragmented) grasslands subject to grazing by different-sized herbivores (i.e., NG, no grazing; SG, sheep grazing; CG, cattle grazing) over 4 years. Using a null-model approach, we estimated the relative magnitude of deterministic processes of community assembly by comparing the observed and expected β-diversity. We found that in the absence of herbivore grazing, deterministic processes played a greater role in community assembly, regardless of whether patchy degradation had occurred. However, the deterministic processes resulted in plant communities being more spatially similar in non-degraded grasslands while being more dissimilar in patchy degraded grasslands. Compared with non-degraded grasslands, species with strong competitive abilities (i.e., Leymus chinensis) were less dominant in patchy degraded grasslands, indicating relaxed competition and a reduced role of species interactions over plant communities. Instead, patchy degradation added the role of environmental variables over plant communities. SG consistently promoted more stochastic plant community assembly in both non-degraded and patch-degraded grasslands, while CG promoted more stochastic plant community assembly only in the non-degraded state, having no effect in the patch-degraded state. Our study offers important insights into changes in plant community assembly during ongoing patch-degradation of grasslands, indicating the role of increased environmental filtering of soil and reduced species interactions in driving plant community dynamics with increasing grassland patchy degradation. We also uncovered an herbivore species-specific effect on plant community assembly during the process of grassland degradation, which will better inform and improve future grassland restoration planning efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yueqing Song
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Man Xu
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Tongtong Xu
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Xuan Zhao
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Yonghuan Yue
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Haoran Yu
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Minna Zhang
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
| | - Ling Wang
- Institute of Grassland Science, Key Laboratory of Vegetation Ecology of the Ministry of Education, Jilin Songnen Grassland Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China
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6
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Pothula SK, Adams BJ. Community assembly in the wake of glacial retreat: A meta-analysis. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:6973-6991. [PMID: 36087341 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Ecosystems shaped by retreating glaciers provide a unique opportunity to study the order and timing of biotic colonization, and how this influences the structure of successive ecological communities. In the last century glaciers across most of the cryosphere have receded at an unprecedented pace. Many studies have been published from different parts of the world testing hypotheses about how soil ecosystems are responding to rapid, contemporary deglaciation events. To better understand and draw general conclusions about how soil ecosystems respond to deglaciation, we conducted a global meta-analysis of 95 published articles focused on the succession of various organisms and soil physicochemical properties in glacier forefields along the chronosequence. Our global synthesis reveals that key soil properties and the abundance and richness of biota follow two conspicuous patterns: (1) some taxa demonstrate a persistent increase in abundance and richness over the entire chronosequence, (2) other taxa increase in abundance and richness during the first 50 years of succession, then gradually decline 50 years onward. The soil properties and soil organisms that are intimately tied to vegetation follow the first pattern, consistent with the idea that aboveground patterns of vegetation can drive patterns of belowground biodiversity. The second pattern may be due to an initial increase and subsequent decline in available nutrients and habitat suitability caused by increased biotic interactions, including resource competition among soil biota. A consensus view of the patterns of historical and contemporary soil ecosystem responses to deglaciation provides a better understanding of the processes that generate these patterns and informs predictions of ongoing and future responses to environmental changes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Byron J Adams
- Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
- Evolutionary Ecology Laboratories, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
- Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA
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7
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Yin W, Zhang B, Zhang H, Zhang D, Leiviskä T. Vertically co-distributed vanadium and microplastics drive distinct microbial community composition and assembly in soil. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2022; 440:129700. [PMID: 35969955 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.129700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2022] [Revised: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Vanadium (V) and microplastics in soils draw increasing attention considering their significant threats to ecosystems. However, little is known about the vertical co-distribution of V and microplastics in soil profile and their combined effects on microbial community dynamics and assembly. This study investigated the spatial distribution of V and microplastics in the soils at a V smelting site and the associated microbial community characteristics along the vertical gradient. Both V and microplastics were found in the 50 cm soil profile with average concentrations of 203.5 ± 314.4 mg/kg and 165.1 ± 124.8 item/kg, respectively. Topsoil (0-20 cm) and subsoil (20-50 cm) displayed distinct microbial community compositions. Metal-tolerant (e.g., Spirochaeta, Rubellimicrobium) and organic-degrading (e.g., Bradyrhizobium, Pseudolabrys) taxa as biomarkers were more abundant in the topsoil layer. V and microplastics directly affected the microbial structure in the topsoil and had indirect influences in the subsoil, with direct impacts from organic matter. In topsoil, deterministic processes were more prevalent for community assembly, whereas stochastic processes governed the subsoil. The interspecific relationship was closer in topsoil with greater network complexity and higher modularity. These findings promote the understanding of distinct heterogeneity of microbial communities jointly driven by V and microplastics in soil environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Weiwen Yin
- MOE Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environmental Evolution, School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Baogang Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environmental Evolution, School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
| | - Han Zhang
- MOE Key Laboratory of Groundwater Circulation and Environmental Evolution, School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Daxin Zhang
- College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Lab for Source Control Technology of Water Pollution, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
| | - Tiina Leiviskä
- Chemical Process Engineering, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4300, FIN-90014 Oulu, Finland
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8
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Torres I, Parra A, Moreno JM. Effects of spatial distance and woody plant cover on beta diversity point to dispersal limitation as a driver of community assembly during postfire succession in a Mediterranean shrubland. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9130. [PMID: 35898419 PMCID: PMC9309027 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Beta diversity, and its components of turnover and nestedness, reflects the processes governing community assembly, such as dispersal limitation or biotic interactions, but it is unclear how they operate at the local scale and how their role changes along postfire succession. Here, we analyzed the patterns of beta diversity and its components in a herbaceous plant community after fire, and in relation to dispersal ability, in Central Spain. We calculated multiple-site beta diversity (βSOR) and its components of turnover (βSIM) and nestedness (βSNE) of all herbaceous plants, or grouped by dispersal syndrome (autochory, anemochory, and zoochory), during the first 3 years after wildfire. We evaluated the relationship between pairwise beta diversity (βsor), and its components (βsim, βsne), and spatial distance or differences in woody plant cover, a proxy of biotic interactions. We found high multiple-site beta diversity dominated by the turnover component. Community dissimilarity increased with spatial distance, driven mostly by the turnover component. Species with less dispersal ability (i.e., autochory) showed a stronger spatial pattern of dissimilarity. Biotic interactions with woody plants contributed less to community dissimilarity, which tended to occur through the nestedness component. These results suggest that dispersal limitation prevails over biotic interactions with woody plants as a driver of local community assembly, even for species with high dispersal ability. These results contribute to our understanding of postfire community assembly and vegetation dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iván Torres
- Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha Toledo Spain
| | - Antonio Parra
- Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha Toledo Spain
| | - José M Moreno
- Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha Toledo Spain
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Hanusch M, He X, Ruiz-Hernández V, Junker RR. Succession comprises a sequence of threshold-induced community assembly processes towards multidiversity. Commun Biol 2022; 5:424. [PMID: 35523944 PMCID: PMC9076875 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03372-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Research on successions and community assembly both address the same processes such as dispersal, species sorting, and biotic interactions but lack unifying concepts. Recent theoretical advances integrated both research lines proposing a sequence of stochastic and deterministic processes along successional gradients. Shifts in ecosystem states along successional gradients are predicted to occur abruptly once abiotic and biotic factors dominate over dispersal as main driver. Considering the multidiversity composed of five organismal groups including plants, animals, and microbes, our results imply that stochastic, likely dispersal-dominated, processes are replaced by rather deterministic processes such as environmental filtering and biotic interactions after around 60 years of succession in a glacier forefield. The niche-based character of later successional processes is further supported by a decline in multi-beta-diversity. Our results may update concepts of community assembly by considering multiple taxa, help to bridge the gap between research on successions and community assembly, and provide insights into the emergence of multidiverse and complex ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximilian Hanusch
- Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Xie He
- Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Victoria Ruiz-Hernández
- Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Robert R Junker
- Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
- Evolutionary Ecology of Plants, Department of Biology, Philipps-University Marburg, 35043, Marburg, Germany.
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Angeler DG, Roberts CP, Twidwell D, Allen CR. The Role of Rare Avian Species for Spatial Resilience of Shifting Biomes in the Great Plains of North America. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.849944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Human activity causes biome shifts that alter biodiversity and spatial resilience patterns. Rare species, often considered vulnerable to change and endangered, can be a critical element of resilience by providing adaptive capacity in response to disturbances. However, little is known about changes in rarity patterns of communities once a biome transitions into a novel spatial regime. We used time series modeling to identify rare avian species in an expanding terrestrial (southern) spatial regime in the North American Great Plains and another (northern) regime that will become encroached by the southern regime in the near future. In this time-explicit approach, presumably rare species show stochastic dynamics in relative abundance – this is because they occur only rarely throughout the study period, may largely be absent but show occasional abundance peaks or show a combination of these patterns. We specifically assessed how stochastic/rare species of the northern spatial regime influence aspects of ecological resilience once it has been encroached by the southern regime. Using 47 years (1968–2014) of breeding bird survey data and a space-for-time substitution, we found that the overall contribution of stochastic/rare species to the avian community of the southern regime was low. Also, none of these species were of conservation concern, suggesting limited need for revised species conservation action in the novel spatial regime. From a systemic perspective, our results preliminarily suggest that stochastic/rare species only marginally contribute to resilience in a new spatial regime after fundamental ecological changes have occurred.
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Different Assembly Patterns of Planktonic and Sedimentary Bacterial Community in a Few Connected Eutrophic Lakes. WATER 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/w14050723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
The mechanism of bacterial community assembly has been the hot spot in the field of microbial ecology and it is difficult to quantitatively estimate the influences of different ecological processes. Here, a total of 23 pairs of planktonic and sedimentary samples were collected from five lakes in Wuhan, China. significant higher α-diversity (p < 0.001) and β-diversity (p < 0.001) of bacterial communities were observed in sediment than those in water. Some phylum had linear relationships with the comprehensive TSI (TSIc) by regression analysis. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) and redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that the depth of water, NO3−-N, NH4+-N, PO43−, and CODcr were the key environmental variables in planktonic bacterial communities, whereas in sediment they were the depth, NO3−-N, and NH4+-N. Furthermore, variation partitioning analysis (VPA) showed that spatial and environmental factors could only explain 40.2% and 27.9% of the variation in planktonic and sedimentary bacterial communities, respectively. More importantly, null model analysis suggested that different assembly mechanisms were found between in water and in sediment with the fact that planktonic bacterial community assembly was mainly driven by dispersal limitation process whereas variable selection process played a vital role in that of sediment.
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12
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Qiao H, Chen L, Hu Y, Deng C, Sun Q, Deng S, Chen X, Mei L, Wu J, Su Y. Soil Microbial Resource Limitations and Community Assembly Along a Camellia oleifera Plantation Chronosequence. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:736165. [PMID: 34925257 PMCID: PMC8675945 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.736165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding soil microbial element limitation and its relation with the microbial community can help in elucidating the soil fertility status and improving nutrient management of planted forest ecosystems. The stand age of a planted forest determines the aboveground forest biomass and structure and underground microbial function and diversity. In this study, we investigated 30 plantations of Camellia oleifera distributed across the subtropical region of China that we classified into four stand ages (planted <9 years, 9–20 years, 21–60 years, and >60 years age). Enzymatic stoichiometry analysis showed that microbial metabolism in the forests was mainly limited by C and P. P limitation significantly decreased and C limitation slightly increased along the stand age gradient. The alpha diversity of the soil microbiota remained steady along stand age, while microbial communities gradually converged from scattered to clustered, which was accompanied by a decrease in network complexity. The soil bacterial community assembly shifted from stochastic to deterministic processes, which probably contributed to a decrease in soil pH along stand age. Our findings emphasize that the stand age regulated the soil microbial metabolism limitation and community assembly, which provides new insight into the improvement of C and P management in subtropical planted forest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hang Qiao
- Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.,College of Resource and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Longsheng Chen
- Research Institute of Economic Forest and Fruit (Research Institute of Oil Tea Camellia), Hunan Academy of Forestry, Changsha, China
| | - Yajun Hu
- Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.,College of Agronomy, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, China
| | - Chenghua Deng
- Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China
| | - Qi Sun
- Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.,College of Resource and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Shaohong Deng
- Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.,College of Resource and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiangbi Chen
- Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China
| | - Li Mei
- College of Horticulture and Forestry Sciences/Hubei Engineering Technology Research Center for Forestry Information, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
| | - Jinshui Wu
- Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China
| | - Yirong Su
- Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China
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13
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Haugum SV, Thorvaldsen P, Vandvik V, Velle LG. Coastal heathland vegetation is surprisingly resistant to experimental drought across successional stages and latitude. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Siri Vatsø Haugum
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Bergen Norway
- The Heathland Centre Alver Norway
- Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research Bergen Norway
| | | | - Vigdis Vandvik
- Dept of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Bergen Norway
- Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research Bergen Norway
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14
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Zai X, Luo W, Bai W, Li Y, Xiao X, Gao X, Wang E, Wei G, Chen W. Effect of Root Diameter on the Selection and Network Interactions of Root-Associated Bacterial Microbiomes in Robinia pseudoacacia L. MICROBIAL ECOLOGY 2021; 82:391-402. [PMID: 33449130 DOI: 10.1007/s00248-020-01678-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2020] [Accepted: 12/29/2020] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
The high plasticity of root morphology, physiology, and function influences root-associated microbiomes. However, the variation in root-associated microbiome diversity and structures in response to root diameter at different root depths remains poorly understood. Here, we selected black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) as a model plant to investigate the selection and network interactions of rhizospheric and root endophytic bacterial microbiomes associated with roots of different diameters (1, 1-2, and > 2 mm) among root depths of 0-100 cm via the Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The results showed that the alpha diversity of the root-associated bacterial communities decreased with increasing root diameters among different root depths; fewer orders with higher relative abundance, especially in the endosphere, were enriched in association with coarse roots (> 2 mm) than fine roots among root depths. Furthermore, the variation in the enriched bacterial orders associated with different root diameters was explained by bulk soil properties. Higher co-occurrence network complexity and stability emerged in the rhizosphere microbiomes of fine roots than those of coarse roots, in contrast to the situation in the endosphere microbiomes. In particular, the endosphere of roots with a diameter of 1-2 mm exhibited the lowest network complexity and stability and a high proportion of keystone taxa (e.g., Cytophagia, Flavobacteriia, Sphingobacteriia, β-Proteobacteria, and γ-Proteobacteria), suggesting a keystone taxon-reliant strategy in this transitional stage. In summary, this study indicated that root diameter at different root depths differentially affects rhizospheric and endophytic bacterial communities, which implies a close relationship between the bacterial microbiome, root function, and soil properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyu Zai
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang, 712100, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Wen Luo
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang, 712100, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Wenqing Bai
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang, 712100, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuhua Li
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang, 712100, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiao Xiao
- Department of Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, 442000, Hubei, People's Republic of China
| | - Xuee Gao
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang, 712100, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Entao Wang
- Depatamento de Microbiología, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biologicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 11340, Mexico, D.F., Mexico
| | - Gehong Wei
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang, 712100, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Weimin Chen
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Agricultural and Environmental Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology in Arid Areas, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Xianyang, 712100, Shaanxi, People's Republic of China.
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15
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Vieira EA, Flores AAV, Dias GM. Colonization history meets further niche processes: how the identity of founders modulates the way predation structure fouling communities. Oecologia 2021; 196:1167-1178. [PMID: 34304305 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-04996-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Community assembly relies on deterministic niche-based processes (e.g., biotic interactions), and stochastic sources of unpredictable variation (e.g., colonization history), that combined will influence late-stage community structure. When community founders present distinct functional traits and a colonization-competition trade-off is not operating, initial colonization can result in late-stage assemblages of variable diversity and composed by different species sets, depending if early colonizers facilitate or inhibit subsequent colonization and survival. By experimentally manipulating the functional identity of founders and predators access during the development of fouling communities, we tested how founder traits constrain colonization history, species interactions and thereby regulate community diversity. We used as founders functionally different fouling organisms (colonial and solitary ascidians, and arborescent and flat-encrusting bryozoans) to build experimental communities that were exposed or protected against predation using a caging approach. Ascidians and bryozoans are pioneer colonizers in benthic communities and also good competitors, but the soft-body of ascidians makes them more susceptible to predators than mineralized bryozoans. When ascidians were founders, their dominance (but not richness) was reduced by predation, resulting in no effects of predators on overall diversity. Conversely, when bryozoans were founders, both space limitation and predator effects resulted in species-poor communities, with reduced number and cover of ascidian species and high overall dominance at the end of the experiment. We, thus, highlight that current species interactions and colonization contingencies related to founder identity should not be viewed as isolated drivers of community organization, but rather as strongly interacting processes underlying species distribution patterns and diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edson A Vieira
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil. .,Departamento de Oceanografia E Limnologia, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Norte (UFRN), Natal, RN, 59014-002, Brazil.
| | - Augusto A V Flores
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, 13083-970, Brazil.,Centro de Biologia Marinha, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São Sebastião, SP, 11600-000, Brazil
| | - Gustavo M Dias
- Centro de Ciências Naturais E Humanas, Universidade Federal Do ABC (UFABC), São Bernardo Do Campo, SP, 09606-070, Brazil
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16
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Jung S, Sim HS, Kim JS, Bae KH, Cho Y. Processes driving understory community dynamics in Ulleungdo Island broadleaved forest, South Korea. Ecol Res 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1440-1703.12231] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Songhie Jung
- Conservation Center for Gwangneung Forest National Arboretum Pocheon South Korea
| | - Hyung Seok Sim
- Conservation Center for Gwangneung Forest National Arboretum Pocheon South Korea
- Department of Forest Resources Graduate School of Kookmin University Seoul South Korea
| | - Jun Soo Kim
- Nature and Forest Research Institute Daegu South Korea
| | - Kwan Ho Bae
- Department of Ecology Environment System Kyungpook National University Sangju South Korea
| | - Yong‐Chan Cho
- Conservation Center for Gwangneung Forest National Arboretum Pocheon South Korea
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17
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Bosc C, Pauw A. Increasing importance of niche versus neutral processes in the assembly of plant-herbivore networks during succession. Oecologia 2020; 194:123-134. [PMID: 32865688 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-020-04740-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies suggest that the assembly of trophic interaction networks is the result of both niche (deterministic and selective) and neutral (stochastic) processes, but we know little about their relative importance. Succession following disturbance offers a good opportunity to address this question. Studies of single-trophic guilds suggest that, shortly after a disturbance, such as a fire, neutral assembly processes (e.g. colonisation events) dominate; whereas, niche processes (selection) become more and more important as succession proceeds. Building on these observations, we predict similar changes in interaction networks during succession, with a shift from stochastic toward selective interactions. To test this, we studied succession of plant-herbivorous insect networks in South Africa after a fire. We sampled a total of 385 herbivorous arthropod species and 92 plant species. For different successional stages and spatial grain sizes, we used network descriptors to estimate plant-herbivore specificity and partner fidelity of plant and herbivore species across networks (i.e. localities). We compared the observed network descriptors to neutral models, and then differentiated selective species (associated with similar partner species in different networks) from neutral species (associated at random with their partners). Our results suggest that specialisation, partner fidelity and the proportion of selective species of plants and herbivores increased with succession, which is consistent with the hypothesis that niche-based processes prevail over neutral processes as succession proceeds. However, in all the successional stages, the majority of species were neutral species, which pinpoints the importance of opportunistic interactions in the assembly of trophic networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Bosc
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa.
| | - Anton Pauw
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa
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18
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An ecological framework for the analysis of prebiotic chemical reaction networks. J Theor Biol 2020; 507:110451. [PMID: 32800733 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2020.110451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2020] [Revised: 07/18/2020] [Accepted: 08/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
It is becoming widely accepted that very early in life's origin, even before the emergence of genetic encoding, reaction networks of diverse small chemicals might have manifested key properties of life, namely self-propagation and adaptive evolution. To explore this possibility, we formalize the dynamics of chemical reaction networks within the framework of chemical ecosystem ecology. To capture the idea that life-like chemical systems are maintained out of equilibrium by fluxes of energy-rich food chemicals, we model chemical ecosystems in well-mixed compartments that are subject to constant dilution by a solution with a fixed concentration of input chemicals. Modelling all chemical reactions as fully reversible, we show that seeding an autocatalytic cycle with tiny amounts of one or more of its member chemicals results in logistic growth of all member chemicals in the cycle. This finding justifies drawing an instructive analogy between an autocatalytic cycle and a biological species. We extend this finding to show that pairs of autocatalytic cycles can exhibit competitive, predator-prey, or mutualistic associations just like biological species. Furthermore, when there is stochasticity in the environment, particularly in the seeding of autocatalytic cycles, chemical ecosystems can show complex dynamics that can resemble evolution. The evolutionary character is especially clear when the network architecture results in ecological precedence, which makes a system's trajectory historically contingent on the order in which cycles are seeded. For all its simplicity, the framework developed here helps explain the onset of adaptive evolution in prebiotic chemical reaction networks, and can shed light on the origin of key biological attributes such as thermodynamic irreversibility and genetic encoding.
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19
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Juottonen H, Männistö M, Tiirola M, Kytöviita MM. Cryptogams signify key transitions of bacteria and fungi in Arctic sand dune succession. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2020; 226:1836-1849. [PMID: 32017117 DOI: 10.1111/nph.16469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Primary succession models focus on aboveground vascular plants. However, the prevalence of mosses and lichens, that is cryptogams, suggests they play a role in soil successions. Here, we explore whether effects of cryptogams on belowground microbes can facilitate progressive shifts in sand dune succession. We linked aboveground vegetation, belowground bacterial and fungal communities, and soil chemical properties in six successional stages in Arctic inland sand dunes: bare sand, grass, moss, lichen, ericoid heath and mountain birch forest. Compared with the bare sand and grass stages, microbial biomass and the proportion of fungi increased in the moss stage, and later stage microbial groups appeared despite the absence of their host plants. Microbial communities of the lichen stage resembled the communities in the vascular plant stages. Bacterial communities correlated better with soil chemical variables than with vegetation and vice versa for fungal communities. The correlation of fungi with vegetation increased with vascular vegetation. Distinct bacterial and fungal patterns of biomass, richness and plant-microbe interactions showed that the aboveground vegetation change structured the bacterial and fungal community differently. The asynchrony of aboveground vs belowground changes suggests that cryptogams can drive succession towards vascular plant dominance through microbially mediated facilitation in eroded Arctic soil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heli Juottonen
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Minna Männistö
- Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), 96300, Rovaniemi, Finland
| | - Marja Tiirola
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland
| | - Minna-Maarit Kytöviita
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, 40014, Jyväskylä, Finland
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20
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Differences in moisture pattern, hydrophysical and water repellency parameters of sandy soil under native and synanthropic vegetation. Biologia (Bratisl) 2020. [DOI: 10.2478/s11756-020-00415-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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21
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Yang J, Wang Y, Cui X, Xue K, Zhang Y, Yu Z. Habitat filtering shapes the differential structure of microbial communities in the Xilingol grassland. Sci Rep 2019; 9:19326. [PMID: 31852979 PMCID: PMC6920139 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-55940-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The spatial variability of microorganisms in grasslands can provide important insights regarding the biogeographic patterns of microbial communities. However, information regarding the degree of overlap and partitions of microbial communities across different habitats in grasslands is limited. This study investigated the microbial communities in three distinct habitats from Xilingol steppe grassland, i.e. animal excrement, phyllosphere, and soil samples, by Illumina MiSeq sequencing. All microbial community structures, i.e. for bacteria, archaea, and fungi, were significantly distinguished according to habitat. A high number of unique microorganisms but few coexisting microorganisms were detected, suggesting that the structure of microbial communities was mainly regulated by species selection and niche differentiation. However, the sequences of those limited coexisting microorganisms among the three different habitats accounted for over 60% of the total sequences, indicating their ability to adapt to variable environments. In addition, the biotic interactions among microorganisms based on a co-occurrence network analysis highlighted the importance of Microvirga, Blastococcus, RB41, Nitrospira, and four norank members of bacteria in connecting the different microbiomes. Collectively, the microbial communities in the Xilingol steppe grassland presented strong habitat preferences with a certain degree of dispersal and colonization potential to new habitats along the animal excrement- phyllosphere-soil gradient. This study provides the first detailed comparison of microbial communities in different habitats in a single grassland, and offers new insights into the biogeographic patterns of the microbial assemblages in grasslands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Yang
- College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yanfen Wang
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xiaoyong Cui
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Kai Xue
- College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yiming Zhang
- Beijing Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau, Beijing, 100048, China
| | - Zhisheng Yu
- College of Resources and Environment, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China. .,Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.
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22
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Chai Y, Dang H, Yue M, Xu J, Zhang L, Quan J, Guo Y, Li T, Wang L, Wang M, Liu X. The role of intraspecific trait variability and soil properties in community assembly during forest secondary succession. Ecosphere 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2940] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Yongfu Chai
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
- School of Life Sciences Northwest University Xi'an China
| | - Han Dang
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
- School of Life Sciences Northwest University Xi'an China
| | - Ming Yue
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
- School of Life Sciences Northwest University Xi'an China
| | - Jinshi Xu
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
| | - Lixia Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
| | - Jiaxin Quan
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
| | - Yaoxin Guo
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
| | - Ting Li
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
| | - Lei Wang
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
| | - Mao Wang
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
- College of Grassland and Environment Sciences Xinjiang Agricultural University Urumqi China
| | - Xiao Liu
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China Ministry of Education Northwest University Xi'an China
- School of Life Sciences Northwest University Xi'an China
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23
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Buma B, Bisbing SM, Wiles G, Bidlack AL. 100 yr of primary succession highlights stochasticity and competition driving community establishment and stability. Ecology 2019; 100:e02885. [PMID: 31498888 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2019] [Revised: 07/04/2019] [Accepted: 08/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The study of community succession is one of the oldest pursuits in ecology. Challenges remain in terms of evaluating the predictability of succession and the reliability of the chronosequence methods typically used to study community development. The research of William S. Cooper in Glacier Bay National Park is an early and well-known example of successional ecology that provides a long-term observational data set to test hypotheses derived from space-for-time substitutions. It also provides a unique opportunity to explore the importance of historical contingencies and as an example of a revitalized historical study system. We test the textbook successional trajectory in Glacier Bay and evaluate long-term plant community development via primary succession through extensive fieldwork, remote sensing, dendrochronological methods, and newly discovered data that fills in data gaps (1940s to late 1980s) in continuous measurement over 100+ years. To date, Cooper's quadrats do not support the classic facilitation model of succession in which a sequence of species interacts to form predictable successional trajectories. Rather, stochastic early community assembly and subsequent inhibition have dominated; most species arrived shortly after deglaciation and have remained stable for 50+ years. Chronosequence studies assuming prior composition are thus questionable, as no predictable species sequence or timeline was observed. This underscores the significance of assumptions about early conditions in chronosequences and the need to defend such assumptions. Furthermore, this work brings a classic study system in ecology up to date via a plot size expansion, new baseline biogeochemical data, and spatial mapping for future researchers for its second century of observation.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Buma
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado, 80217, USA
| | - S M Bisbing
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, 89557, USA
| | - G Wiles
- Department of Earth Sciences, The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio, 44691, USA
| | - A L Bidlack
- Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center, University of Alaska Southeast, Juneau, Alaska, 99801, USA
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24
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Chai Y, Cao Y, Yue M, Tian T, Yin Q, Dang H, Quan J, Zhang R, Wang M. Soil Abiotic Properties and Plant Functional Traits Mediate Associations Between Soil Microbial and Plant Communities During a Secondary Forest Succession on the Loess Plateau. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:895. [PMID: 31105679 PMCID: PMC6499021 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00895] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2019] [Accepted: 04/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
In the context of secondary forest succession, aboveground-belowground interactions are known to affect the dynamics and functional structure of plant communities. However, the links between soil microbial communities, soil abiotic properties, plant functional traits in the case of semi-arid and arid ecosystems, are unclear. In this study, we investigated the changes in soil microbial species diversity and community composition, and the corresponding effects of soil abiotic properties and plant functional traits, during a ≥150-year secondary forest succession on the Loess Plateau, which represents a typical semi-arid ecosystem in China. Plant community fragments were assigned to six successional stages: 1-4, 4-8, 8-15, 15-50, 50-100, and 100-150 years after abandonment. Bacterial and fungal communities were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region of the rRNA operon, respectively. A multivariate variation-partitioning approach was used to estimate the contributions of soil properties and plant traits to the observed microbial community composition. We found considerable differences in bacterial and fungal community compositions between the early (S1-S3) and later (S4-S6) successional stages. In total, 18 and 12 unique families were, respectively, obtained for bacteria and fungi, as indicators of microbial community succession across the six stages. Bacterial alpha diversity was positively correlated with plant species alpha diversity, while fungal diversity was negatively correlated with plant species diversity. Certain fungal and bacterial taxa appeared to be associated with the occurrence of dominant plant species at different successional stages. Soil properties (pH, total N, total C, NH4-N, NO3-N, and PO4-P concentrations) and plant traits explained 63.80% and 56.68% of total variance in bacterial and fungal community compositions, respectively. These results indicate that soil microbial communities are coupled with plant communities via the mediation of microbial species diversity and community composition over a long-term secondary forest succession in the semi-arid ecosystem. The bacterial and fungal communities show distinct patterns in response to plant community succession, according to both soil abiotic properties and plant functional traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongfu Chai
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
- School of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Ying Cao
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
- School of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Ming Yue
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
- School of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Tingting Tian
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
- School of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Qiulong Yin
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
- School of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Han Dang
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
- School of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Jiaxin Quan
- Key Laboratory of Resource Biology and Biotechnology in Western China, Ministry of Education, Northwest University, Xi’an, China
| | - Ruichang Zhang
- Department of Plant Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Mao Wang
- College of Grassland and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang Agricultural University, Ürümqi, China
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25
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Sarneel JM, Hefting MM, Kowalchuk GA, Nilsson C, Van der Velden M, Visser EJW, Voesenek LACJ, Jansson R. Alternative transient states and slow plant community responses after changed flooding regimes. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:1358-1367. [PMID: 30638293 PMCID: PMC6849759 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2018] [Accepted: 11/30/2018] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Climate change will have large consequences for flooding frequencies in freshwater systems. In interaction with anthropogenic activities (flow regulation, channel restoration and catchment land-use) this will both increase flooding and drought across the world. Like in many other ecosystems facing changed environmental conditions, it remains difficult to predict the rate and trajectory of vegetation responses to changed conditions. Given that critical ecosystem services (e.g. bank stabilization, carbon subsidies to aquatic communities or water purification) depend on riparian vegetation composition, it is important to understand how and how fast riparian vegetation responds to changing flooding regimes. We studied vegetation changes over 19 growing seasons in turfs that were transplanted in a full-factorial design between three riparian elevations with different flooding frequencies. We found that (a) some transplanted communities may have developed into an alternative stable state and were still different from the target community, and (b) pathways of vegetation change were highly directional but alternative trajectories did occur, (c) changes were rather linear but faster when flooding frequencies increased than when they decreased, and (d) we observed fastest changes in turfs when proxies for mortality and colonization were highest. These results provide rare examples of alternative transient trajectories and stable states under field conditions, which is an important step towards understanding their drivers and their frequency in a changing world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith M. Sarneel
- Landscape Ecology GroupDepartment of Ecology and Environmental SciencesUmeå UniversityUmeåSweden
- Ecology & BiodiversityInstitute of Environmental BiologyUtrecht UniversityUtrechtNetherlands
- Plant EcophysiologyInstitute of Environmental BiologyUtrecht UniversityUtrechtNetherlands
| | - Mariet M. Hefting
- Ecology & BiodiversityInstitute of Environmental BiologyUtrecht UniversityUtrechtNetherlands
| | - George A. Kowalchuk
- Ecology & BiodiversityInstitute of Environmental BiologyUtrecht UniversityUtrechtNetherlands
| | - Christer Nilsson
- Landscape Ecology GroupDepartment of Ecology and Environmental SciencesUmeå UniversityUmeåSweden
| | - Merit Van der Velden
- Ecology & BiodiversityInstitute of Environmental BiologyUtrecht UniversityUtrechtNetherlands
| | - Eric J. W. Visser
- Department of Experimental Plant EcologyInstitute for Water and Wetland ResearchRadboud UniversityNijmegenNetherlands
| | | | - Roland Jansson
- Landscape Ecology GroupDepartment of Ecology and Environmental SciencesUmeå UniversityUmeåSweden
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26
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Luo Z, Liu J, Zhao P, Jia T, Li C, Chai B. Biogeographic Patterns and Assembly Mechanisms of Bacterial Communities Differ Between Habitat Generalists and Specialists Across Elevational Gradients. Front Microbiol 2019; 10:169. [PMID: 30804920 PMCID: PMC6378303 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2018] [Accepted: 01/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
A core issue in microbial ecology is the need to elucidate the ecological processes and underlying mechanisms involved in microbial community assembly. However, the extent to which these mechanisms differ in importance based on traits of taxa with different niche breadth is poorly understood. Here, we used high-throughput sequencing to examine the relative importance of environmental selection and stochastic processes in shaping soil bacterial sub-communities with different niche breadth (including habitat generalists, specialists and other taxa) across elevational gradients on the subalpine slope of Mount Wutai, Northern China. Our findings suggested that the composition of soil bacterial communities differed significantly different among elevational gradients. According to the niche breadth index, 10.9% of OTUs were defined as habitat generalists (B-value >8.7) and 10.0% of OTUs were defined as habitat specialists (B-value <1.5). Generalists and specialists differed distinctly in diversity and biogeographic patterns across elevational gradients. Environmental selection (deterministic processes) and spatial factors (stochastic processes) seemed to determine the assembly and biogeography of habitat generalists. However, for specialists, deterministic processes strongly influenced the distribution, while stochastic processes were not at play. Environmental drivers for generalists and specialists differed, as did their importance. Elevation, total nitrogen and pH were the main factors determining habitat generalists, and soil water content, nitrate nitrogen and pH had the strongest impacts on specialists. Moreover, variation partitioning analysis revealed that environmental selection had a much greater impact on both generalists (17.7% of pure variance was explained) and specialists (3.6%) than spatial factors. However, generalists had a much stronger response to spatial factors (2.3%) than specialists (0.3%). More importantly, null models of β-diversity suggested that specialists deviated significantly from non-neutral assembly mechanisms (relative null deviation= 0.64–0.74) relative to generalists (0.16–0.65) (P < 0.05). These results indicate that generalists and specialists are governed by different assembly mechanisms and present distinct biogeographical patterns. The large proportion of unexplained variation in specialists (93.3%) implies that very complex assembly mechanisms exist in the assembly of specialists across elevational gradients on the subalpine slope of Mount Wutai. It is essential to understand the microbial community assembly at a more refined level, and to expand the current understanding of microbial ecological mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhengming Luo
- Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China.,Department of Geography, Xinzhou Teachers University, Xinzhou, China
| | - Jinxian Liu
- Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Pengyu Zhao
- Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Tong Jia
- Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Cui Li
- Department of Environment and Economics, Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan, China
| | - Baofeng Chai
- Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, China
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27
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Ferguson RMW, Coulon F, Villa R. Understanding microbial ecology can help improve biogas production in AD. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2018; 642:754-763. [PMID: 29920462 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2018] [Revised: 06/01/2018] [Accepted: 06/01/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
454-Pyrosequencing and lipid fingerprinting were used to link anaerobic digestion (AD) process parameters (pH, alkalinity, volatile fatty acids (VFAs), biogas production and methane content) with the reactor microbial community structure and composition. AD microbial communities underwent stress conditions after changes in organic loading rate and digestion substrates. 454-Pyrosequencing analysis showed that, irrespectively of the substrate digested, methane content and pH were always significantly, and positively, correlated with community evenness. In AD, microbial communities with more even distributions of diversity are able to use parallel metabolic pathways and have greater functional stability; hence, they are capable of adapting and responding to disturbances. In all reactors, a decrease in methane content to <30% was always correlated with a 50% increase of Firmicutes sequences (particularly in operational taxonomic units (OTUs) related to Ruminococcaceae and Veillonellaceae). Whereas digesters producing higher methane content (above 60%), contained a high number of sequences related to Synergistetes and unidentified bacterial OTUs. Finally, lipid fingerprinting demonstrated that, under stress, the decrease in archaeal biomass was higher than the bacterial one, and that archaeal Phospholipid etherlipids (PLEL) levels were correlated to reactor performances. These results demonstrate that, across a number of parameters such as lipids, alpha and beta diversity, and OTUs, knowledge of the microbial community structure can be used to predict, monitor, or optimise AD performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert M W Ferguson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK
| | - Frédéric Coulon
- School of Water, Energy and Environment, Cranfield University, Cranfield, MK43 0AL, UK
| | - Raffaella Villa
- School of Water, Energy and Environment, Cranfield University, Cranfield, MK43 0AL, UK.
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28
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Latombe G, Richardson DM, Pyšek P, Kučera T, Hui C. Drivers of species turnover vary with species commonness for native and alien plants with different residence times. Ecology 2018; 99:2763-2775. [DOI: 10.1002/ecy.2528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2018] [Revised: 08/06/2018] [Accepted: 08/30/2018] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Latombe
- Department of Mathematical Sciences Centre for Invasion Biology Stellenbosch University Matieland 7600 South Africa
- Department of Botany and Zoology Centre for Invasion Biology Stellenbosch University Matieland 7600 South Africa
| | - David M. Richardson
- Department of Botany and Zoology Centre for Invasion Biology Stellenbosch University Matieland 7600 South Africa
| | - Petr Pyšek
- Department of Invasion Ecology The Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Botany CZ‐252 43 Průhonice Czech Republic
- Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 CZ‐128 44 Praha2 Czech Republic
| | - Tomáš Kučera
- Department of Ecosystem Biology Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 1760, CZ‐370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic
| | - Cang Hui
- Department of Mathematical Sciences Centre for Invasion Biology Stellenbosch University Matieland 7600 South Africa
- Theoretical Ecology Group African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Cape Town 7945 South Africa
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29
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Le Borgne H, Hébert C, Dupuch A, Bichet O, Pinaud D, Fortin D. Temporal dynamics in animal community assembly during post-logging succession in boreal forest. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0204445. [PMID: 30235333 PMCID: PMC6147515 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2018] [Accepted: 09/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Species assemblages can result from deterministic processes, such as niche differentiation and interspecific interactions, and from stochastic processes, such as random colonisation and extinction events. Although changes in animal communities following disturbances have been widely examined, few studies have investigated the mechanisms structuring communities during ecological succession. We assessed the impact of logging on small mammal and beetle assemblages in landscapes dominated by old-growth boreal forests. Our objectives were to 1) characterize variations in communities during the first 66 years of post-harvest forest succession, 2) determine if there are non-random patterns of species co-occurrence (i.e., deterministic processes), and if there are, 3) establish whether non-random co-occurrences are best explained by habitat attributes or by interspecific interactions. We captured small mammals and beetles along a gradient of forest succession (5-66 years) and in old-growth forest, and characterized key vegetation attributes. First, we tested whether community compositions in clear-cut stands became similar to those in natural stands after 66 years. We then used null models, which were either unconstrained or constrained by habitat attributes, to address the last two objectives and distinguish effects of vegetation attributes from interspecific interactions on community assembly. We showed that beetle assemblages differed in stands 21-30 years post-harvest compared to old-growth forests. In contrast, harvesting did not influence the composition of small mammal communities. Overall, our results suggest that community assembly during forest succession is driven by both stochastic and deterministic processes, the latter being linked to interspecific interactions more strongly than to vegetation attributes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hélène Le Borgne
- Chaire de recherche industrielle CRSNG-Université Laval en sylviculture et faune, Département de biologie, Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - Christian Hébert
- Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, Stn. Sainte-Foy, Québec, Canada
| | - Angélique Dupuch
- Chaire de recherche industrielle CRSNG-Université Laval en sylviculture et faune, Département de biologie, Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Orphé Bichet
- Chaire de recherche industrielle CRSNG-Université Laval en sylviculture et faune, Département de biologie, Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - David Pinaud
- Chaire de recherche industrielle CRSNG-Université Laval en sylviculture et faune, Département de biologie, Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Daniel Fortin
- Chaire de recherche industrielle CRSNG-Université Laval en sylviculture et faune, Département de biologie, Pavillon Alexandre-Vachon, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
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30
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Han J, Shen Z, Li Y, Luo C, Xu Q, Yang K, Zhang Z. Beta Diversity Patterns of Post-fire Forests in Central Yunnan Plateau, Southwest China: Disturbances Intensify the Priority Effect in the Community Assembly. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2018; 9:1000. [PMID: 30050551 PMCID: PMC6050402 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2018.01000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Post-fire succession is an ideal case for studying effects of disturbance on community assembly, and the key is to disentangle the contributions of assembly processes to the variation of community composition, namely beta diversity, and the contingent scales. The central Yunnan Plateau of Southwest China is characterized by monsoon related seasonal drought, and frequent forest fires. We sampled five fire sites burned in different years and a middle aged forest, measured species composition dissimilarity and its species turnover and nestedness components, within each fire site and across all sites. Results indicated species turnover as the primary component of beta diversity within all communities. There was no trend of change with year-since-fire (YSF) in beta diversity among early post-fire communities, but beta diversity in the middle aged community was significantly higher. Species turnover patterns across fire sites revealed a weak dispersal limit effect, which was stronger at lower than upper slope position for woody plants, and reverse for herbs. At the site scale, the species dissimilarity and turnover both enlarged with increasing slope position difference, especially in the middle-aged community, but the species nestedness had no consistent trend among sites, except a decreasing trend in the middle-aged forest. (Partial) Mantel tests indicated habitat filtering [primarily indicating total nitrogen (TN) and slope position] played a much stronger role than dispersal limit and YSF (indicating competition intensity) for the post-fire forest assembly at the landscape scale, for both woody and herbaceous layers. However, at the site scale, Mantel tests indicated a diminishing effect of soil nutrient filtering with increasing YSF, while effects of topography and spatial distance in the middle aged community was stronger. This divergence suggests the primary assembly mechanism gradually shift away from the soil constraint. While the seasonal drought and the mountain topography dominate the environmental legacy, our results imply that fires may reinforce a priority effect in the forests assembly in this region, by creating a habitat filtering (e.g., moisture and nitrogen limitation) effect on species composition in post-fire communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Han
- Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Zehao Shen
- Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yiying Li
- Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Caifang Luo
- Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Qian Xu
- School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
| | - Kang Yang
- Department of Ecology, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhiming Zhang
- School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
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